Sunrise(Pact Arcanum 2) (40 page)

THE TRIUMVIRATE

CHAPTER 51

January 2039; Court of Shadows Council Chamber Complex, Alexandria, Egypt; Five days later

Aleksei watched the floating black strands entwine until a knock sounded at the door. He covered the jar with a white cloth. “Enter.”

Nick walked into the room, accompanied by the Night’s Herald and her guards. “Thank you, Herald. You may leave the guards outside.”

“The Magister Luscian’s loyalty to the Court is compromised, my Lord Imperator. I must insist that you be protected.”

“I am certain that the Triumvirate would not be so tactless as to send an Ambassador to assassinate me.” Aleksei looked at Nick with disinterest. “If you wish, you may remain behind.”

Nodding, the Herald sent the guards out of the room and then disappeared behind a shroud of invisibility.

Nick glanced at the spot where she had been standing. “She’s good. I can’t feel her at all.”

Aleksei shrugged. “She is new to her post and takes her duties seriously. She hopes to live up to the example of her predecessor, who destroyed three of the Four Winds and most of their forces during their foolhardy assault on the Court three decades ago.”

“Radiant Burn,” Nick said softly. “Luscian watched it happen from the minaret above the Council chamber.”

“As did I.” Aleksei paid Nick more attention. “How much of the Eldest’s memory did you consume when you destroyed him?”

“Everything,” Nick said. “I know what you did, my Lord Imperator.”

“I have done many things, Prince Nicholas.”

“Not to me.” Nick met his eyes defiantly. “You told Luscian that Rory and I were friends.”

Aleksei smiled and sat down behind his desk. He indicated one of the chairs opposite. “Sit down, Ambassador, and tell me why you are here.”

“I am here because the Triumvirate asked me to be here. But I would have come anyway for the chance to meet you.”

Aleksei sat back in his seat, his fangs protruding as he watched Nick. “For what reason?”

Nick’s eyes grew red. “To give you fair warning. I died in pain because of you. That debt will be paid, sooner or later.”

In answer, Aleksei drew back the white cloth covering the glass jar on his desk.

Nick fixed his eyes on Kukiko’s head floating in the clear liquid.

“Fledgling, I am Aleksei Magister Talizered, called the Prince of Vengeance,” growled the Nightwalker in a low rumble. “It is dangerous to waste my time. If you contend with me, I will destroy you so completely that no one will even remember your name.”

Nick smiled. “The way you destroyed Luscian?”

Aleksei raised his eyebrows, caught off guard.

Nick pressed on before he could answer. “I have all of his memories, Aleksei. I know what he knew, and how much of it was lies—lies based on your intelligence. You set him up against the Triumvirate, hoping he would lose so you could step into the power vacuum. How would the rest of the Court react if they found out?”

Aleksei chuckled. “They would be incensed, some for being taken in by the lie, and others because I was inept enough to be caught. It would deeply erode my support from all quarters.”

Nick snapped his arm to the side and Reaper appeared in his hand. Sparks jumped from the blade as it brought the sword of the Night’s Herald to a jarring stop a foot away from his head. He turned his head to her as the shroud of invisibility dropped away. “Oh, and when I said I couldn’t feel you—I lied.”

Aleksei laughed out loud at her furious countenance. “Stand down, Herald. I think the Magister Luscian has said all he needed to say.”

Nick turned back to the Huntmaster and the Herald planted her feet between the two of them, her sword at the ready. The Daywalker leveled his sword at Aleksei’s face. “This isn’t over, my Lord.”

Stretching back, Aleksei laced his fingers behind his head and regarded Nick. “Welcome home, Nicholas,” he said with mock courtesy. “I think you’ll find you fit in perfectly.”

* * *

Nick walked through the empty halls of the Luscian Embassy until he came to the sanctum. He expected to find his maker’s private residence empty, the furnishings stolen after House Luscian fell, just like the other rooms; instead, he was shocked to see a four-poster bed next to a teak desk against one wall, a leather couch and coffee table against the other.

“Surprise, Nicholas.”

Nick spun around to see Lorcan standing behind him, smiling. “Playing decorator, Ruarc?”

Lorcan shrugged. “I had to get permission from the Night’s Herald to teleport some new furniture past the jumper blocks, but she couldn’t really object now that the embassy has been reinstated.” He draped his arms around Nick’s shoulders. “Welcome home.”

Nick smiled. “Talizered said the same thing.”

Lorcan’s expression lost some of its mirth. “How did your meeting go?”

“A little rattling of swords on either side, but otherwise it went well. I think he’s just awaiting my next move before deciding whether I’m a threat that needs to be dealt with. It shouldn’t be a problem. I was only making a courtesy visit today anyway, before heading back on the road to finish our tour.”

“Are you leaving right away, or would you like to stay long enough to christen the bed?”

Nick grinned lazily as his eyes turned red. “I still have a few hours before I have to meet Scott.”

Lorcan kissed him. “Then let me show you a real homecoming.”

PART VIII:  FALL TO EARTH

CHAPTER 52

March 2039; Jumpvessel
Angelus
; Two months later

Nick followed the markings on the walls of the white metal corridor until he reached the cabin he had booked. Stepping inside, he cast his eyes critically over the cramped stateroom, noting the bed and the small sitting area next to the adjoining bathroom. He set his suitcase down on the floor and lay on the bed, stretching out to his full six feet. Clasping his hands behind his head, he looked absently at the featureless white ceiling, reflecting on the concert tour he had recently completed. It had left him with a few weeks off before heading back into the recording studio. Scott had jumped at the idea of a real vacation with his family, and they had decided they would go their separate ways and meet up again in a month to start work on their new album.

“All hands, stand by for departure in two minutes,” the ship’s AI said from above him.

Should I have invited Ruarc to come with me?
True, the Nightwalker hadn’t been granted privileges for off-world travel beyond the Citadel, but Nick could probably have pushed through an exception.
No, it’s better to take a little time for myself and do something different with my time off.
He loved Lorcan’s easy companionship, but he needed to be alone occasionally.

“All hands,
Angelus
departing now.”

Nick felt his stomach flutter as the ship lifted away from the lunar surface on gravity drive.
Besides,
he thought,
here I am, a representative of an interplanetary culture, and I’ve never gone farther into space than Earth orbit.
Ares was the best developed and closest of the Armistice colonies, a city of interconnected pyramids situated on the top of a plateau on the equator of Mars.
I can’t wait to see it.

“
Angelus
has cleared the Citadel traffic pattern. Transition to Recursion Drive in ten seconds.”

He studied the cabin again.
So this is home for four days
, he thought.
I might as well relax because I’m not going anywhere for a while.
He smiled as he considered his options.
I wonder if this spaceship has shuffleboard.

“Recursion Drive engaged. Estimated time to arrival at Ares Colony is one hundred hours.”

The colors of the room exploded in searing light, and Nick felt a lancinating pain stab into his eyes, penetrating deep into the back of his head.
Jesus,
he thought,
what a time for a migraine.
He curled up on the bed, pressing his hands against the sides of his head. The pain grew more intense, radiating down his spine as his back spasmed in agony.
What the fuck?

Opening his vampire senses fully, he focused his mystical perceptions on his own mind.
Neural feedback.
His thoughts flashed back to Luscian, and his sire’s explanation of the searing pain he could inflict with just a touch.
Is someone trying to kill me?

Through the storm of suffering, he tried to concentrate on finding a way to protect himself. He whimpered as he forced himself to direct his magic inward, casting the most powerful healing spell he knew on his own nervous system, trying to reinforce his mental defenses. Still, he was losing ground to the torture, his self-control faltering in the face of the pain that ripped through his body.

Nothing!
Nothing was working. Nick writhed in anguish on the bed, struggling to even think.
Oh, God, it hurts so much. Please, make it stop.
He reached out feebly to Scott for help and felt the Sentinel fall to his knees in shock as Nick’s pain burned through the link, setting Scott’s nerves on fire as well.

Nick’s vision went red, then black, and he was blind. He quailed in terror, lost again in the dark, until reason failed and he simply began to scream.

March 2039; Citadel Central Infirmary, Lunar Farside

Draining his mystical strength for additional speed, Lorcan sprinted down the corridors of the hospital complex to the intensive care ward. He came to a dead stop when he saw Rory and Scott engaged in quiet conversation in the waiting room.

“What happened?” he demanded.

“We don’t know.” Scott rubbed his eyes wearily. “The first I knew something was wrong was when the agony started. After a couple of minutes, I couldn’t reach him anymore. He was too far gone in his own pain.”

“That’s all you can say?” Lorcan shouted. “He’s in a fucking
coma
and you’re telling me you have no idea why?”

“God, Lorcan, you have no idea what it was like those first minutes.” Scott shuddered. “Nothing could have prepared me enough to help him in the face of that. It was a nightmare. I’ve never felt anything like it.”

“Nick has,” Rory said in a quiet voice. “The day Luscian had him at his mercy.”

Lorcan collapsed into a chair. “Do we know anything? Who did this to him?”

“They said they’ll let us know as soon as they figure out what happened.” Rory squeezed Lorcan’s shoulder.

Lorcan slumped in his seat. “I can’t lose him, not like this, not without knowing why.”

“He’s tough, Lorcan.” Scott swallowed his dislike of Lorcan, recognizing that the Nightwalker’s obvious misery mirrored his own. “He’s pulled through worse.”

“Luscian tortured him to death, Sentinel.” Lorcan glared at Scott, rejecting his sympathy. “He only ‘pulled through’ into the second life because the Eldest allowed him to survive.”

“If that were true, he would have died with the rest of House Luscian,” said Rory. “He had the will to take back his destiny. He’ll fight this.”

The three broke off their conversation as a doctor, wearing a gray two-piece outfit with a green staff and serpent symbol on the right breast, came out of the ward. He focused intently on the three of them. “Which of you is his dyad brother?” he asked.

Scott stood up. “I am.”

The doctor nodded and then addressed Rory and Lorcan. “My Lords, forgive me, but patient confidentiality requires me to ask you to leave temporarily.”

“Nick is my Primogenitor,” said Rory. “I claim the right to be involved in the care of a member of my house.” He glanced at Lorcan. “Ambassador Lorcan is Leshir Luscian. He should be here, as well.”

Lorcan started at being referred to as Nick’s formal mate, but kept his mouth shut to avoid being ejected. “What can you tell us, doctor?”

“There is extensive damage to his nervous system, but he is regenerating the destroyed tissue at an accelerated rate. A less powerful vampire or a Sentinel would have died long before the
Angelus
returned to port.”

“Was he attacked?” asked Scott.

“We’re not certain.” The doctor frowned. “He appears to have suffered some form of focused neural injury uniformly throughout the central nervous system. I’ve seen something like it only once before—a rare metabolic syndrome called Recursion Dyssynchrony. It generates a destructive neurodegenerative cascade in response to jumpdrive exposure. But that doesn’t fit in this case.”

“Why not?” asked Lorcan. “He was on a jumpship, after all.”

“All the previous victims of Recursion Dyssynchrony either succumbed to their injuries or slipped into a comatose state within a few minutes of exposure.” He looked at Scott. “From your statement to the admitting staff, he was awake and aware for at least thirty minutes before his higher functions were compromised.”

“Will he recover?” asked Rory, his face grim.

The doctor hesitated as all three stared at him, desperate for answers. “He has a good chance of survival based on the rate his body is repairing itself. Whether he recovers full mental functions will depend on his body’s resilience and healing capacity. Even for a vampire, this is a severe injury to repair. He might never wake up. If he does regain consciousness, he could have suffered permanent damage to his mind. It’s too soon to tell. We should know more in a few weeks.”

“A few
weeks
?” said Scott, incredulous. “Can’t you do anything to help him? We can get you the strongest spellcasters in the Armistice.”

The doctor shook his head. “The more we interfere with his body’s healing mechanisms, the more chance we will destroy or alter the psychic template his body is using to repair the neural damage. We might speed his recovery but cost him his mind. I know it’s difficult to hear, but the best thing we can do now is to just wait and let his body repair itself at its own rate.”

“Can we see him, at least?” asked Lorcan.